Hope Stuck and BG sit this game out. Rather them playing the Bobcats the following night. If the Bulls were to win, win the by halftime so the starters can get a good rest and ready for the Bobcats game.

Chicago — Pistons forward Austin Daye isn't looking at it as such, but perhaps the last quarter of the season should be looked upon as a fresh start.

Daye is starting tonight in the backcourt alongside Brandon Knight against the Bulls since Rodney Stuckey (hamstring) and Ben Gordon (groin) are out because of injury. Daye's offensive stats have been down all across the board compared to his first two years.

He's not letting the disappointment leave his mind, though.

"I don't want to erase it, I carry it with me for motivation," Daye said. "All the things that's been going on, I'll take it to the summer. Even if I started the rest of the season and played great, I would still remember the first 40-something games."

He played well in Wednesday's win against Cleveland, but affected the game in a different way that he's accustomed to, as he only scored eight points. Pistons coach Lawrence Frank stayed with Daye because Daye made plays on the defensive end, which of course is Frank's forte.

It's also why Frank doesn't want Daye to start from scratch.

"I think he starts building on the minutes he's gotten on the past couple games," Frank said. "He shouldn't act out of character now that he's starting."

Daye, 23, spoke about how important having support from the coaching staff is. Many times, he'd look over to the bench if he missed a shot or missed a defensive assignment, expecting to be pulled. Usually, the hook wasn't too far behind.

"You don't want to look over your shoulder, when you aren't you know you're out there for a reason," Daye said. "When you're not hesitant, not worrying, you can do a lot of good things."

After Monday's shootaround in Washington, he was lamenting his lockout experience in Russia, where the already-slightly built Daye lost weight during his two-month stint there. He told Rodney Stuckey he'd lost 10 pounds and just now, he's getting back to his previous playing weight of 200 pounds.

"After the season, you're working out with me," Stuckey said. "You're not going back to California."

Friday, he was asked if he would take Stuckey, one of the more solidly-built guards in the league, up on his offer.

"Yeah, I mean, I'm not going to take too much time off," said Daye before Stuckey, walking by and hearing his teammate referring to the offseason, reaffirmed his beliefs.

"He's gonna be alright, he's going to get his work in this summer. I'm gonna get him right," Stuckey said.

Hamilton should play tonight Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said Bulls guard Richard Hamilton would probably play against the Pistons, provided he goes through warm-ups without any issues.

he'll be fine in the second half. noone really did much in the first half. The one complaint I really have while watching the team on offense is that there is absolutely no structure. It seems as though anyone has the green light whenever. I miss the days of LB when he would make sure when we needed a score the team knew to run a play and a scorer would get the shot or Cnote would take it to the hole. But a quality possession was gonna take place. This team it seems like whoever feels like it gets to shoot.